'the nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind'

Daily Archives: February 23, 2012

When it comes to being entertained, I can be pretty cynical and jaded. I watch the television show, see the film, read the book, and in a half-hour I know the ending (or at least, I think that I do). 90% of the time I’m right (or halfway there). 9% of the time I’m completely surprised (and occasionally disappointed). As for that remaining 1%? I’m so freaking entertained and engrossed by the entire thing that I’m not even attempting to venture a guess.

image courtesy barnesandnoble.com (also: this book is not about a victoria's secret angel, which is what I think it looks like)

Like with the book I just finished: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder (awesome name, eh?). It’s actually classified as a “young adult” novel but I’m technically a young adult, right?* At least, it didn’t read like the sappy, melodrama-ridden schlock that I feared it might be.

Because the potential is there: Cam, our angsty-and-teenaged main character, has cancer and has exhausted all of her treatment options (what an uplifting premise, right?). So her mother decides to take their family to a town in Maine that’s supposedly “enchanted” or “magical” in order to “heal” her.

And that’s all I’m going to tell you, because hey – reading that much of the synopsis hooked me.

A couple notes:
– The characterization and scene descriptions are, basically, magical. Wendy can write, y’all. Even the minorest of characters are somehow presented in Technicolor detail without being distractingly-wordy.

– It’s not as depressing as it sounds, nor is it as fluffy as it sounds.

– You can read the first few chapters online here. Try not to be turned off by the teeny-bopper vibe from this website. The publisher (?) seems to be trying really hard to sell this book. I see what they’re trying to do – make it appeal to a generation of iPhone-addicted social media whores – but it was overkill times one thousand, for me.